as we are close to tesco at work, all bottles and cans go there though i get totally hacked off with storing them in my shed until we remember to take them in to work with us.we burn most papers to start the fire in the evenings...i put out all cardboard and stuff like that every other week for collection by the council...a4 size envelopes and jiffy bags go to work to be used there

garden waste goes either on the compost heap or on a bonfire and i quite often spread the ahes on a veg plot if suitable as well as the ashe from the fireplace when i clean that out...any left over vegetable that we don't ge to like sprouts and stuff go to the goats or chickens.

i would like to recycle all those plastic bottles. can't milk the goats at present and aquire about 3x 4pint milk bottles a week which i can't recycle.

we don'thave many plastic coke bottles or stuff like that and if we do then i quite often use them in the garden for something

Our local council provides green wheelie bins as well as the brown ones for ordinary waste, and we can put in paper, card, plastic bottles and cans. My local tesco and safeways have a collection point for aluminium cans and plastic shopping bags. I re-use what bags I can, but I take the broken ones there, and those from fruit and veg if they are clean, and with any paper labels ripped off, (though I'm not sure if I'm supposed to!)

Any paper or card that is too dirty to recycle in the council bin goes in the composter, with the chickens' litter and manure and the kitchen waste I can't feel to the chickens.

We aren't allowed to put juice cartons in the cardboard recycling, because of the foil linings, but I have a freepost address somewhere to send these to, where they do recycle them using a different technique. I also send my foil and ally cans to one of the various charities who can benefit from these, also freepost. I gather you can also save plastic bottle tops for charity use as well, though I haven't found out where to send these yet.

I would like to be able to say "None!" as we are a family of four (fifth on the way soon) and we put hardly anything in the bin for the binmen. All foodstuffs go to the hens or in the compost shed. other bio-degradables go straight onto unused land (which will oneday be used for veggies & anything that will burn goes either on our log fire or on the bonfire.

Now where we come a cropper everytime is with the cat litter. I was told by a friend to use sawdust which you can then burn afterwards but I didn't have much luck with the burning bit - he says I didn't have a big enough fire but that is his opinion. So, ashamedly, we end up putting the lot in a bin bag each week and trecking off to the communal wheely bin down the lane with it.

As we live in France (where nearly everything is recycled) we feel very guilty about doing this.

The great Bob F recommends burying the poo under your fruit trees. If that doesn't appeal, then you could dig a deep hole in an out-of-the-way spot and put the solids in there - keep scattering a few ashes or a bit of sawdust over the top until the hole is filled.
If you can get the newspaper-based cat litter or use sawdust, then you could just compost what's left after you have scooped the poop!

A shallow hole would probably work better, as most of the organisms which brake down organic matter live in the top soil, and the roots of plants in the top layer help too. Its what I do with my partially composted humanure from the compost loo, and when its time to empty the loo again, the compost in the small pit is indistinguishable from the potting compost you buy in bags. When I put it in the pit I sprinkle some woodash on top for the smell, and then lay a board across (more to prevent tripping into the whole). No smell whatsoever. I also notice roots growing into it, taking out what they can, and the level goes down about 1/3 to half in a few months. It would work with catpoo too, and especially with sawdust, which is what I use to sprinkle on the poo everytime I visit the loo, gives the right carbon/nitrogen balance for composting. I do use fine sawdust, as I cut my wood with a bow saw. I have tried chainsaw chips, but they are a bit slow to brake down, and I would be suspicious about the chain oil, unless it was plant based. I have also successfully used chopped straw, which also allows some air in for better composting.

This month's Country Living has a section on packaging (what it is, how to avoid it, how to recycle it) - I'm planning to harvest the various tips and addresses from it when I get around to it (does anyone know where I can bulk buy round to its? I need quite a lot of them )

we are a family of 5 our wheelie bin is collected once every two weeks, inbetween they collect a brown bin for compost, they also collect paper glass tins and we take plastic to recycle.we just fill our bin in two weeks, but we could do better.